Ten civil society priorities for action now!

For endorsements please write to: HLM2016@icaso.org before May 15 2016

Too soon to declare victory: the end of the AIDS epidemic may be within reach, but it will slip
through our fingers if we do not reprioritize now.

Ten civil society priorities for action now!

I.

LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND. To uphold the promise of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), Member States must recognize and address the fact that key
populations, including people who use drugs, gay men and other men who have sex with
men, bisexual people, transgender people, male, female and transgender sex workers, and
young women and adolescents, are the groups most at risk for HIV. It also means a
permanent commitment to collecting age- and sex-disaggregated data, including
information about groups that are often invisible to data collectors. The requires close
collaboration and regular consultation with community members to ensure that data is
safely collected, using human rights metrics, and that it captures the diversity of
communities affected by HIV.

II.

PROTECT AND UPHOLD HUMAN RIGHTS: All Member States must eliminate discriminatory
laws, policies and practices, adversely affecting people living with HIV, gay men and other
men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who use drugs, transgender people, and
women and girls, while ensuring human rights are upheld and protected, including the right
to health. Along with multilateral financial institutions, all member states must also support
action to address human rights abuses, including gender-based violence (including sexual
violence) and discrimination and stigma. To do this effectively, they must invest in human
rights interventions. The risk of inaction is a failure to achieve healthy lives (SDG 3).

III.

DECRIMINALIZE HIV TRANSMISSION, EXPOSURE AND NON-DISCLOSURE: To achieve

healthy lives (SDG 3) and access to justice (SDG 16) Member States must eliminate
draconian laws directed at people living with HIV. Such laws have no public health value
whatsoever. Member States must also eliminate the unjust application of criminal law on
the sole basis of HIV status and discrimination against people living with and vulnerable to
HIV, in line with SDG 16. National governments should ensure access to justice for all. The
risk of inaction is a renewed epidemic among the groups who are most at risk of contracting
HIV.

IV.

ENSURE TREATMENT ACCESS NOW: Access to treatment, care and support, particularly
among key populations (SDG 3) is a staple element of the response. Member States, with
the support of donors, international organizations and the UN, must ensure that all people
living with HIV needing and wanting treatment are able to receive it. In addition, Member
States must ensure that access to treatment in developing countries is consistent with the
World Trade Organization Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health (Doha Declaration).

Ten civil society priorities for action now!

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V.

REVIVE THE PREVENTION REVOLUTION: Prevention must remain central to all HIV
responses. Combination HIV programs include a full range of complementary, acceptable,
accessible, high-quality bio-medical (e.g., condoms, pre and post exposure prophylaxis
PrEP and PEP and voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC),), behavioral, community,
social, and structural interventions. HIV-related programs should meaningfully involve
communities at all levels, be well managed with sufficient capacity, scaled up to reach at
least 90% of those in need, be well managed with sufficient capacity, scaled up to reach at
least 90% of those in need and be aligned with global guidance developed and supported by
the WHO and UNAIDS.

VI.

ACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY: Gender inequality and violence heighten vulnerability to HIV.
Member States must commit to meaningfully addressing gender inequality (SDG 5) and
gender-based violence across all levels of the response. All Member States must ensure
greater and more effective linkages between sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV
service. SRH services should be fully funded and include programs for caregivers of family
members living with HIV, the majority of whom are women and girls. SRH programs should
also address gender-based violence and be tailored to the needs of key populations,
including transgender women. Responses should be evidence-informed and be ready to
address emerging issues, such as cervical cancer, HPV, and gender-specific presentation of
tuberculosis and malaria.

VII.

RECOGNIZE AND RESPOND TO HIV AMONG SOCIALLY MARGINALIZED GROUPS: Member

States must align their HIV response with reliably and systematically collected
epidemiological data. This includes understanding disproportionate disease burden and
disparities among young women and girls (SDG 5), particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and
concentrated epidemics among gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex
workers, transgender woman, and people who use drugs (SDG 10). National AIDS programs
should address the specific and differential needs of young people and people living with
HIV who are aging (complementing SDG 3). Member states should as well scale up
interventions to address the social drivers of HIV, poverty and inequality through HIV
sensitive programs that ensure housing, educational and economic opportunity and other
supports that build resilience.

VIII.

FULLY FINANCE A COMPREHENSIVE HIV REPONSE: We must ensure that resources match
need. 1 Member states, donors, the international community and the UN must reenergize
strained funding sources (SDG 17). The UNAIDS Fast Track goals have laid out an ambitious
target of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 but this plan will be little more than rhetoric
without creative thinking and bold action to scale up and sustain the investments required.
Stakeholders in the field of public health and thought leaders and partners in financing and

UNAIDS has calculated that US$ 31.3 billion are needed in 2020 to reach the UNAIDS 2020 fast track targets. At current levels,
this means a gap of US$ 9 billion globally.

Ten civil society priorities for action now!

For endorsements please write to: HLM2016@icaso.org before May 15 2016

development should work in close partnership. Middle-income countries should develop
and implement costed transition plans as international donors, including the Global Fund,
withdraw their support. Without an all-hands-on-deck effort, the moment to end the HIV
epidemic will pass. This must include enabling legal and policy environments to allow for
contracting between governments and community-based organizations (social contracting).
National government should firmly commitment to continuing services for key populations
previously supported by external donors. Donor governments and multilateral organizations
should continue funding advocacy and monitoring activities to ensure responsible transition
planning.
IX.

SUPPORT COMMUNITY RESPONSES: Funding must reach communities. Community health

services, community mobilization and community monitoring play key roles in the HIV
response. All Member States and multilateral funding institutions must place particular
emphasis on closing resource gaps and fully fund community engagement and mobilization.
Action must include quantifying, costing, and funding community-driven responses,
including involvement of faith-based organizations. While anchoring services within the
community is essential, governments should not offload their responsibility onto
communities without ensuring adequate human and financial resources. Member States
must commit to supporting strong community engagement, including resources and
recognition.

X.

ESTABLISH STRONG ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS TO ENSURE COMMITMENTS ARE

MET. All member states must commit to supporting robust accountability mechanisms to
ensure that the commitments made in this 2016 AIDS Declaration are translated into
effective AIDS responses. They must also commit to periodic and inclusive reviews and
reporting of progress towards meeting the targets set, with the full and meaningful
involvement of civil society, in particular people living with HIV and key populations.

Slogans and simple answers will not end the AIDS epidemic. Efficiencies in health service delivery will
not get us there alone. Political leaders at the community, national, regional and global levels must
recommit to take real steps to end AIDS. This means using a human rights approach to:
a. Address punitive policies and practices that prevent people vulnerable to, at risk of and living
with HIV from receiving the health, legal and social services they need;
b. Eliminate laws that criminalize HIV transmission, exposure and non-disclosure, homosexuality,
gender non-conformity, sex work, and drug use; and
c. Challenge trade and aid policies that hamper HIV commodity production, purchasing and
distribution systems.

Ten civil society priorities for action now!

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The diversity of todays HIV epidemics demands diverse, rights-based and gender-transformative
responses. However, while this has long been part of the HIV lexicon, many countries and communities
have not yet fully acknowledged or adopted such rights-based and gender-transformative laws,
strategies, policies and programs.
Comprehensive approaches to HIV are not new, but the global community, national governments,
international organizations and donors have not yet put them at the center of HIV and health responses.
Most notably, human rights, gender equality, treatment for all, combination prevention and increased
financing must anchor HIV responses. Not all countries, communities or groups experience the
epidemic equally. In some countries, HIV is urbanized and heavily concentrated within cities, and
further concentrated among particular groups, such as men who have sex with men, sex workers,
people who use drugs, people in prison, young women and girls, and transgender people. In other
places, the HIV rate is growing among groups living in areas with little access to health, social and legal
services, as well as among groups on the move, particularly relevant in light of the current massive
humanitarian emergencies (refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people). 2 In yet other
contexts, HIV-TB co-infection is a growing cause of illness and death. 3
Following the evidence, each country must localize and tailor its HIV response. This means they must
address structural and political determinants of HIV and health inequity. Among these determinants are
punitive laws and policies that criminalize people living with HIV, gay men and other men who have sex
with men, sex workers, transgender people, people who use drugs, and women and girls. Also
vulnerable are migrants, people in prison, people with disabilities and indigenous peoples. Governments
should have policies in place to redress discrimination based on race, ethnicity, tribe, gender, gender
identity, sexual orientation, language, and age. For countries where HIV is on the rise, such attention is
urgent. The risk of inaction is great: more failed policies, inadequate programmes, downward
pressure on national economies and lost resourcesand most importantly of all, lost lives.

(20151026_PCB37_EXDreport_en), at p.6.
For more information, please see http://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/tbhivcoinfection/default.htm; https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/factsheets/twin-epidemics-hiv-and-tb-co-infection; and http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1002464.
3

Ten civil society priorities for action now!

For endorsements please write to: HLM2016@icaso.org before May 15 2016

Ten civil society priorities for action now!

I.

LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND. In the context of HIV, leaving no one behind requires that member
states recognize and address the fact that key populations, including people who use drugs,
gay men and other men who have sex with men, bisexual people, transgender people, male,
female and transgender sex workers, and young women and adolescents, are the groups
most at risk of HIV. The risk of inaction = no end in sight for the HIV epidemic.

It also means a permanent commitment to collecting age- and sex-disaggregated data, including
information about groups that are often invisible to data collectors. The requires close collaboration and
regular consultation with community members to ensure that data is safely collected, using human
rights and gender metrics, and that it captures the diversity of communities affected by HIV.
II.

PROTECT AND UPHOLD HUMAN RIGHTS: All member states must commit to a human
rights based approach to the HIV response that respects, protects, promotes and fulfils
sexual and reproductive health and rights and eliminates discriminatory laws, policies, and
practices. This requires specific attention to repealing laws, policies and practices that
increase HIV risk and those that discriminate against key populations and fail to protect
women and girls, because such laws, policies and practices render services inaccessible and
unaffordable. Along with multilateral financial institutions, all member states must also
support action to address human rights abuses, including gender-based violence, sexual
violence, discrimination, stigma and human rights violations in healthcare settings. These
actions are essential to achieving healthy lives (SDG 3).

Today, unaddressed HIV epidemics among these groups threaten to undermine gains made to date in
reaching global HIV targets unless countered with evidence-informed and human rights affirming
interventions at scale. Moreover, concentrated HIV epidemics in these groups continue in many
countries -- both high and low-incomeand in countries with generalized epidemics. Access to
treatment, to rights-based sexual and reproductive health programs and to legal services is often
undermined by punitive laws, counterproductive policies, human rights abuses, and violence fueling
stigma, discrimination and persistent disparities.
Women and girls carry a significant burden of HIV both as women living with HIV and as the primary
caretakers for family and community members living with HIV. In many Eastern and Southern Africa
countries, women and girls are contracting HIV two to five times more than men and boys of the same
age. 4 Action to address gender inequality everywhere in the world is a central element to effective HIV
responses (SDG 5). The risk of inaction is severe continued growth of HIV, especially among people
who face discrimination and inequality. Targeted attention to marginalized people and communities,
such as indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, migrants, prisoners/people deprived of their liberty,
and other who face criminalization because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or because they
are sex workers or people who use drugs is always essential to effective strategies, policies and
programs.
III.

DECRIMINALIZE HIV TRANSMISSION, EXPOSURE AND NON-DISCLOSURE: To achieve

healthy lives (SDG 3) and access to justice (SDG 16) member states must eliminate the

See UNAIDS Gap Report, 2014

Ten civil society priorities for action now!

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unjust application of criminal law solely on the basis of HIV status and end discrimination
against people living with and vulnerable to HIV, in line with SDG 16. The risk of inaction is
a renewed epidemic among the groups who are most at risk of contracting HIV.
All member states must eliminate punitive laws and policies that criminalize people living with and
affected by HIV. If not, people living with HIV will continue to be prevented from taking advantage of
the full range of services that are available and the treatment gaps will continue unabated. Such laws
and policies also hamper the growth of fully integrated HIV and SRH services, as well as other forms of
integrated services and harm reduction programs. 5
All member states must also eliminate punitive laws that criminalize people because of their sexual
orientation, drug use, gender identity, refugee or migrant status or their work as sex workers. If not,
criminalization will continue to prevent safe, unfettered access to services as well as access to justice
and remedies for violations of rights.
IV.

ENSURE TREATMENT ACCESS NOW: Access to treatment, care and support, particularly
among key populations (SDG 3) is a staple element of the response. However, member
states still delay ensuring that all adults, adolescents and children needing and wanting
treatment are able to receive it. The risk of inaction is a rise in HIV among those
communities for whom treatment is inaccessible and continued preventable mortality and
morbidity.

Member states should commit to time-bound treatment (ARV) scale-up goals. The pace of increasing
access to ARVs will have a direct correlation with achieving reduced morbidity, reduce death, and fewer
new infections, including reaching more than 30 million people with life-saving ART by 2020 and
increasing the number of new people on ART by 20% on an annual basis. Access to treatment must align
with new WHO recommendations. Additionally, member states must ensure that access to treatment in
developing countries is consistent with the World Trade Organization Declaration on TRIPS and Public
Health (Doha Declaration)
To be successful, member states must commit to scaling-up of essential adherence support pillars, such
as provision of routine viral load, ART-friendly strategies including differentiated models of care and
flexible refill schedules, and adherence counseling, including ensuring health workers are adequately
trained, paid, and supported. In addition to ART scale-up, member states should commit to qualitative
as well as quantitative indicators that reflect scale-up HIV services, improve linkages, increase support
for adherence, and disaggregate data (by age, gender, and key population). Further, member states
must meet the 90-90-90 targets for children and ensure that children living with HIV are on treatment,
receiving holistic care and virally suppressed.
Furthermore, member states must expand efforts to combat tuberculosis, which is the leading cause of
death among people living with HIV, by improving tuberculosis screening, prevention, access to
diagnosis and treatment for all forms of tuberculosis including drug-resistant tuberculosis, and access to
antiretroviral therapy, through more integrated delivery of HIV and tuberculosis services in line with the
5

For more detail, please see http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/policies/law/states/exposure.html;

http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/jc1601_policy_brief_criminalization_long_en.pdf

Ten civil society priorities for action now!

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Global Plan to End TB 20162020, and commit by 2030 to work towards reducing tuberculosis deaths
among people living with HIV by 90 per cent.

V.

REVIVE THE PREVENTION REVOLUTION: Prevention must remain as a central part of all
HIV responses with the strong participation of communities. Member states must be clear
that they see prevention as a priority, along with treatment, care and support services, and
act upon this recognition. The risk of inaction is continued high numbers of new infections,
and a continued separation of treatment and prevention, further frustrating efforts
toward a comprehensive response, and making treatment unaffordable.

Bio-medical and treatment-focused solutions remain important, but a sustainable prevention

framework needs to include structural and behavioural approaches, too. HIV prevention is a right. All
member states must tailor prevention services to key populations and other groups that face
discrimination and marginalization and gender inequality with the strong participation and engagement
of communities In the case of those at risk of acquiring HIV through sexual transmission, this needs to
include condoms, PrEP and VMMC. Furthermore, for people who use drugs, this must include harm
reduction, both through needle & syringe programmes and opioid substitution therapy (OST). 6
Governments, with the support of donors, the international organizations and the UN must also
complete the unfinished work of the Global Plan Towards the Elimination of New HIV Infections Among
Children by 2015 and Keeping Parents Alive.
The best chance for meaningful change is delivering rights- and evidence-based, inclusive, prevention
programs to those who most need them. Dismantling barriers to access in laws and policies, as a result
of stigma, fear of reprisal, discrimination or gender inequality, setting ambitious prevention program
targets and implementing programs at scale could bring sustainable progress within reach.
Governments must accelerate their progress by taking advantage of new evidence and technologies,
such as access to medical male circumcision and increased distribution of pre-exposure prophylaxis
(PrEP).
VI.

ACHIEVE FOR GENDER EQUALITY: Robust evidence shows the relationship between gender
inequality and HIV. Member States must commit meaningfully to address gender inequality
(SDG 5) and gender-based violence across all levels of the response. The risk of inaction is
the continued disproportionate burden of HIV on women and girls, especially women and
girls living with HIV, and as members of key populations with distinct health needs,
including during and after pregnancy.

All member states must ensure greater and more effective linkages and increased support for work that
connects SRH and HIV programming as well as GBV and HIV programming, as well as robust support for
caregivers caring for family members living with HIV, the majority of whom are women and girls.
Responses must also respect and promote sexual reproductive health and rights, involve research and
evidence-informed programming on emerging issues such as cervical cancer, HPV, and gender-specific
presentation of tuberculosis and malaria. Maternal mortality disproportionately impacts women living
with HIV. Although improvements in health facilities and medical treatments have cut maternal
mortality rates by almost half in the past twenty years, maternal deaths caused by HIV have not seen
6

For more information, please see http://inpud.net/en/women-who-use-drugs-and-hiv.

Ten civil society priorities for action now!

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similar reductions. 7 Worryingly, maternal mortality rates during this period have in fact increased in
eight high HIV-prevalence countries in sub-Saharan Africa. 8
Member states must recognize and address the large HIV disease burden that is shouldered by young
women and girls, particularly in Eastern and Southern Africa, and transgender women everywhere.
Member states must also address gender-based determinants of these disparities, including the damage
caused by gender-based violence and harmful gender norms.
VII.

RECOGNIZE AND RESPOND TO HIV AMONG SOCIALLY MARGINALIZED GROUPS: Member

states must allocate resources to reflect changing HIV contexts, including: the
concentration of the epidemic among young women and girls (SDG 5) particularly in SubSaharan Africa and among key populations (SDG 10), and the generational shift of the
epidemic (complementing SDG 3). This risk of inaction is clear: continued or accelerated
flourishing of HIV in conditions of growing inequality.

All countries must ensure access to prevention, treatment, care and support programing for the full
range of people living with and affected by HIV, from the very young to the very old. Each member state
must reorganize its national response to reflect the changing face of HIV and recalibrate their response
to prevention, treatment, care and support as a lifecycle approach. If not, HIV will continue to rise in
especially vulnerable to hard-to-reach communities, such as young women and adolescent girls,
migrants, and prisoners/people deprived of their liberty, among others.
Specifically, member states must recognize and increase the participation of young people and children
living with HIV in decision-making processes. Young people must be directly involved in designing,
implementing, providing, and monitoring services intended to meet their needs. With respect to people
who are aging, greater integration within health systems and services to address multi-morbidity and
the link between HIV and non-communicable diseases are needed. Regarding young children and
adolescents, the response must afford substantially more attention to pediatric and adolescent testing
and treatment, including treatment adherence, which can only be achieved by a comprehensive social
protection, care, support and child protection.
In addition, middle income and upper middle income countries should have in place costed transition
plans to ensure that treatment, prevention, care and support programs are not compromised as donors
such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and many donor governments
withdraw. This must include enabling legal and policy environments to allow for contracting between
governments and civil society (social contracting) and commitments to continue services for key
populations previously supported by external donors. Donor governments and multilateral organizations
should continue funding programs and services that national HIV responses are unlikely to absorb, such
as monitoring and advocacy to ensure responsible transition planning.
Member states should also scale up interventions to address the social drivers of HIV, poverty and
inequality through HIV sensitive programs that ensure housing, educational and economic opportunity
and other supports that build resilience.
7

World Health Organization, Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2013 Estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, The World Bank and the United
Nations Population Division (2014), available at: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/112682/2/9789241507226_eng.pdf?ua=1 (45%
decrease in maternal morality from 1990 to 2013). Coceka Mnyani, et al., A 15-year review of maternal deaths in a background of changing HIV
management guidelines. 21st Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Boston, abstract 67, 2014 (there has been no change in
the proportion of maternal deaths caused by HIV since 2007).
8
WHO, UNICEF. Accountability for maternal, newborn and child survival: The 2013 Update. Geneva: WHO; 2013.

Ten civil society priorities for action now!

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VIII.

FULLY FINANCE A COMPREHENSIVE HIV REPONSE: It is high time to ensure that resources
match need. 9 Member states, donors, the international community and the UN must
reenergize strained funding sources (SDG 17). The risk of inaction is an inexcusable global
failure to end the HIV epidemic, despite possessing the knowledge, technology and skills
to do so.

Countries of all income levels must receive the financial support they need to sustain the gains made
gains made thus far in combatting HIV and AIDS. Donors, the international community, the UN and
member states should allocate support based on evidence about who is most at risk and most affected,
for prevention, treatment and human rights programs. If not, the moment to end the HIV epidemic will
be delayed or lost. UNAIDS estimates that about a quarter of a fully funded global response need to be
allocated to prevention and half to treatment, if global targets are to be achieved.
The UNAIDS Fast Track goals lay out the ambitious target of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 but this
plan will be little more than rhetoric without creative thinking and bold action to scale up and sustain
the investments required. We need collective action now - not only from stakeholders in the field of
public health, but with joint action from thought leaders and partners in financing and development.
Without an all-hands-on-deck effort, this moment for action will dissipate without the requisite scaledup action.
Such efforts must also support financing for research and innovation. Member states should direct
increased human and financial resources to new and emerging technologies, such as: multi-purpose
technologies (MPTs) that enable women to simultaneously prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted
infections, including HIV; second and third-line ARVs; and rights-protective distribution of PrEP. Greater
impetus to innovation also comes from implementation research, which helps to ensure that we gather
lessons about what works and what does not, and participatory research and data analysis to help us
better understand and address the social, structural, and political drivers of HIV.
IX.

SUPPORT COMMUNITY RESPONSES: Re-energized funding sources must reach

communities in order to ensure that community health services, community mobilization,
community monitoring and community care, support & child protection services can play
a key role in the HIV response. Member states must commit to supporting strong
community responses with resources and recognition. The risk of inaction is sacrificing the
chance to make the greatest strides at the most fundamental level. 10

All member states and multilateral funding institutions must place particular attention to the resource
gap in funding community action and activism. Action must include funding community-driven
responses, including involvement of faith-based organizations, with a caveat. While anchoring services
within the community is essential, governments must not offload their responsibility onto communities
without ensuring adequate human and financial resources.
Member states, donors, the international community and the UN must increase support to community
organizations, in order to improve service provision, advocacy, engagement, and monitoring of health
9

UNAIDS has calculated that US$ 31.3 billion are needed in 2020 to reach the UNAIDS 2020 fast track targets. At current levels, this means a
gap of US$ 9 billion globally.
10
For data on communities in the HIV response, see UNAIDS
www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/UNAIDS_JC2725_CommunitiesDeliver_en.pdf

Ten civil society priorities for action now!

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responses, including through the utilization of TRIPS flexibilities. If not, communities will continue to
struggle to obtain funding for their most basic needs, and HIV programming will remain inadequate.
X.

ESTABLISH STRONG ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS TO ENSURE COMMITMENTS ARE

MET: Establish ways to monitor and evaluate if global and national responses are meeting
their commitments. The call from organizations of people living with HIV of nothing for us
without us has long been a pillar of accountability for the global HIV community. Member
states must commit to ensuring stronger accountability mechanisms, with an emphasis on
community-based monitoring, advocacy and mobilization should accompany sufficient
funding. This risk of inaction is leaving the most marginalized and at risk behind.

All member states must commit to supporting robust accountability mechanisms to ensure that they
translate commitments made in this 2016 AIDS Declaration are translated into effective AIDS responses.
They must also commit to periodic and inclusive reviews and reporting of progress towards meeting the
targets set, with the full and meaningful involvement of civil society, in particular people living with HIV
and key populations.
Accountability depends on full and meaningful participation. Yet, people living with HIV, key
populations, civil society and human rights defenders face increased restrictions on their rights to
engage in the public lives of their communities and countries. Without such engagement of these
groups, full accountability will not be possible. While the search for accountability is at the heart of
what national, regional and international human rights systems do, it should preoccupy governments,
the UN, and civil society. Accountability is a pillar upon which social justice and sustainable
development are built. While accountability is a core principle of human rights-based responses,
accountability principles and mechanisms can help to improve policymaking by identifying systemic
problems in order to make service delivery systems more effective and responsive.

10